Will NCAA reforms have tangible benefit?

Networks should pay

Coley Harvey

Orlando Sentinel

With the reforms announced last week, at least we can finally say the NCAA is no longer crawling around aimlessly on its hands and knees. The big boy diapers may remain, but at least the association has taken its first baby step.

Applause for the proposed move to pay student-athletes a $2,000 stipend, and further applause for the multiyear scholarships they can now sign. The only problem is this: Who will fund it all?

Instead of sending it through the conferences (as is proposed), the money should come from the television networks.

Besides, with conference expansion in vogue, the conferences as we know them won't exist — physically or financially — when these reforms take effect.

One of five new reforms increases the two-year Academic Progress Rate cutline for postseason play from 900 to 930. Those 30 points might be enough to keep Connecticut out of next season's NCAA basketball tournament. That's what Calhoun gets for forgetting that UConn is actually a school, not a layup line.

The rule allowing unlimited texting from coaches to recruits will have a tangible, and very positive, effect on the telecommunications industry.

And now that schools can provide a $2,000-per-year stipend, will those who cry about oppressed student-athletes — whose scholarships are worth upwards of $250,000 — focus on actual victims in society? Start with the homeless.

The NCAA's new rules regarding academics and athletics are a step in the right direction. They are well-meaning and, chances are, will have some positive effect. But how much they produce in tangible results will depend on that great intangible: the culture.

In major college sports, the Al Davis dictum — Just win, baby — still applies. Show me the coach with a 100 percent graduation rate, a flawless record of NCAA compliance but a losing record and I will show you the next decimal point in the unemployment stats. A coach who is fired for NCAA infractions is sure to get another chance somewhere. All is forgiven, except losing.

In this culture, ways to get around any rules will be sought and found.

Sweeping legislation adopted by the NCAA board of directors last week is a case of the good, the bad and the ugly.

Allowing schools to increase financial aid by $2,000 and offer multiyear scholarships instead of year-by-year deals is good for athletes who will have more money and security.

The change will be bad for smaller conferences who must decide if they can afford the added expense. If not, they will fall even farther behind the Southeastern Conference, Pac-12 and other big boys.

As for making teams score a 930 or better on the Academic Progress Rate to qualify for the postseason — a change to be phased in over four years — that could get ugly for some prominent athletic programs, including the defending champion UConn men's basketball team.